Using repeated exposure through hands-on cooking to increase CHILDREN'S preferences for fruits and vegetables.

Using repeated exposure through hands-on cooking to increase CHILDREN'S preferences for fruits and vegetables. Appetite. 2019 Jul 03;:104347 Authors: Ehrenberg S, Leone LA, Sharpe B, Reardon K, Anzman-Frasca S Abstract Few children in the United States meet national fruit and vegetable intake recommendations, highlighting a need for interventions. Children's food preferences act as a barrier to fruit and vegetable consumption, but prior research has demonstrated that repeated taste exposures can increase children's acceptance of these foods. Prior research in this area has typically utilized controlled procedures in which children sample small tastes of target foods over repeated occasions. The primary aim of the present pilot study was to test whether children's preferences for target fruits and vegetables increased following repeated taste exposures to them through hands-on cooking in a community setting. Seventeen 6-to-8-year-old children participated in biweekly study sessions during six weeks of a summer camp serving lower-income families. Liking of (yummy, just OK, yucky) and rank-ordered preferences for nine fruits and vegetables were measured before and after exposure sessions (pre-test and post-test). Based on pre-test assessments, four relatively less liked foods (two fruits, two vegetables) were chosen to become target foods. Children were then exposed to target foods during nine hands-on cooking sessions; liking of target...
Source: Appetite - Category: Nutrition Authors: Tags: Appetite Source Type: research